Altap Salamander is a fast and reliable two-panel file manager for Windows. It has an intuitive interface, offers viewers for all popular file formats as well as support for common archives, and has built-in FTP and SFTP clients.

Some time ago (2 years?) I went looking for a good file manager. A.S. seemed dead: no recent updates, no forum activity.

(Although those are important, It didn't make it to my shortlist because it was lacking one of my main requirements: an Undo function.
A pity, as it seemed like a very capable, feature rich file manager)

Oh, it's always been alive.
Development has always been slow.
And while it is lacking in some areas (Unicode comes to mind), it is robust.
Forums, yes they're quiet, but then Salamander is essentially unchanged since it's (2) decades ago last freeware version.
(Sure it's changed, sure it's better, but overall, it looks much the same, works much the same.)

(For some reason, the browser I stick with follows along in a similar path.
And my car too. Can't say I've ever seen the need for anything more then a Model T .)

There will be no additional development, no unicode support, no tabs etc. Everything has been said in Czech part of forum.

Right now there are no plans for major Salamander release or development from our side.

BUT:

A) Never say never.
B) We are willing to open source Salamander plugins - we are looking for Visual C++ developers interested in Salamander.
C) If you are interested in vector graphics and icons creation, AS 4.0 has support for SVG toolbar icons. Maybe community could help.
D) Salamander is our essential tool, we will patch small problems, security issues, release minor versions to ensure AS 4 works just fine.

Don't hold your breath, If you need Unicode support, UAC, or tabs, use Total Commander or another file manager.

And if that's the case, it's the same limitations I live with currently, so it is what it is.
Still the best file manager (next to Norton Commander 5.5 for DOS) IMHO.

If you want to relive the "Norton Commander experience", take a look at Far Manager. (screenshots)
Same look and feel, but in the back-end a lot of extra functionality (mostly through plug-ins).
IIRC, it has even unicode support

Total Commander and Altap Salamander are a lot alike. And T.C. has Everything integrated!
Quite a few people here on the forum are active on the Total Commander forum too (or the other way around)

Just curious: What makes Altap Salamander stand out from the rest in your opinion?
(apart from that it's deeply nested in your muscle memory)

Much has to do with the "muscle memory".
Otherwise, it is robust, just always works.
It is "traditional" looking & traditional in operation.
Everything is logical in operation.

Even something like the file viewer, F3.
A very basic feature.
Opens in a new window, rather then in a tab.
And it's "clean", very basic (not cartoon-ish), but it's just what is needed, IMO.
Works as expected, doesn't get in the way, just works.

Yes I could probably get TC or Unreal or Multi or Just or ... [Commander] to work, close enough, but I'd have to work at it, & then I'd always be, "why does it do it like this instead of...". (Yes, I've long known of FAR.)

TC's file viewer, F3, spacebar, moves you through the file rather then advancing to the next file.
If you're looking at a text file, or a picture file (in Salamander), F3 to view the file, space (backspace) takes you to the next file, then next, then...
Very convenient.
TC (at least in an old version I have on hand), it's F3, ESC, arrow-key down (in TC), F3, ESC, arrow-key down (in TC), F3...